Each year, KidsRead invites public school students from all over the five boroughs to The Center for Fiction to meet the children’s, young adult, and literary fiction writers they have been reading in class. Our goal is to help students gain not only proficiency but a passion for books, and our method is personalization of the reading experience, exposing children at an age where they are particularly responsive to role models.

We work with teachers and school administrators to develop discussion questions and incorporate KidsRead writers into their curriculum. We work with publishers to provide students with books by these authors for free, both for their school libraries and for the students to keep. We are also happy to work with schools to gather books for them not related to our author events.

We keep the events small, with a maximum of 80 students per event, so that all kids have time to ask questions, get their book signed, and have a personal interaction with the writer. We do all of this at no cost to schools. Contact Allison Escoto at allison@centerforfiction.org or 212-755-6710 to get involved!

Last July we held a new summer initiative as part of our KidsRead program called KidsWrite. A four-day workshop intensive for students grades 10-12 who participated in our KidsRead program, KidsWrite Junior Fellows brought together eager and talented young people to finesse their writing skills, improve their ability to express themselves creatively, and become part of a community of like-minded peers. It was taught by 2015 Emerging Writer Fellow and accomplished author t'ai freedom ford, who worked with the students closely on writing exercises and fostered discussions about the craft of writing. Click here to learn more about the program and meet our first group of students!

As part of our continued efforts to make reading and writing accessible to children from all backgrounds, this program was provided at no cost to the students or their schools.

Check out our monthly review column, by writer Celia McGee. Celia searches recent releases to bring you the best kids' fiction out there. We hope Celia's terrific choices help get kids reading, and help create the next generation of readers and writers! READ NOW